Folding chair.



' Patented Nov. 4, l 902.. W. H. THOMAS. FOLDING CHAIR.

{Application filed Dec. 18, 1901.) I

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'No.7l2,864. v Patented Nov. 4, I902.

. W. H. THUMAS. FOLDING CHAIR.

. (Application filed 1B, 1901. (No Model.)

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PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. THOMAS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO CLARENCE G. BROWN, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,864, dated November 4, 1902.

Application filed December 18, 1901. Serial No. 86,352. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of folding chairs in which the front legs are pivoted to the rear legs beneath the seat, which is pivoted to fold with the legs; and the invention consists chiefly in improved means for coupling the seat-frame to the front legs and guiding said members in their movements to and from a folded condition and which improvement is simple and inexpensive in construction and allows the chair to be folded in a neat, perfect, and most compact manner and also affords a strong and safe support for the seat when the chair is in its unfolded condition, as hereinafter more fully described, and set forth in the claim.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved folding chair in its un folded condition. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical transverse sections on line X X in Fig. 1 and showing the chair in its unfolded and folded conditions, respectively. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical transversesection on line Y Y in Fig. 1, and Figs. 5and 6show additional features of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-' sponding parts.

' a a represent the rear legs, which are formed with upward extensions a a, constituting the side rails of the back of the chair. I

b b denote the front legs, which are pivote 40 to the rear legs at points some distance beneath the seat. To the upper ends of the front legs is firmly fastened a transverse bar 0, which ties said portions of the front legs together.

(1 represents the seat-frame, which is pivoted to the rear legs, as indicated at e, and rides on the tie-bar c. This seat-frame is formed with a central opening f, through the center of Which extends longitudinally a rod 9, disposed at right angles to the tie-bar c and firmly secured to the seat-frame. The seatframe is connected to the said tie-bar by means of a suitable coupling, which compels the front legs to fold synchronously with the seat-frame. I preferably form said coupling of a staple 71,, secured to the tie-bar c and loosely embracing the rod g, so as to enable the staple to slide on said rod lengthwise thereof without losing its hold thereon. To the tie-bar are rigidly attached stops or lugs i, which project upward and engage the front edge of the opening f, adjacent to the side edges of said opening when the chair is unfolded and in position for use. Said engagement of the lugs with the seat-frame serves to limit the forward movement of the legs a and retain the said tie-bar in parallelism with the pivots of the legs and also retain legs in proper position for supporting the front portion of the seat-frame. In case either of the lugs should be accidentally broken the staple h will engage the seat-frame and serve the function of the broken lug.

When it is desired to provide the described folding chair with arms l l, as represented in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, I pivot said arms to the outersides of the back rails to a and support the front ends of the arms upon struts n, pivoted at their upper ends to said arms and at their lower ends to the sides of 'the seat-frame separate from the aforesaid tie-bar. Said struts are curved laterally intermediate their ends, as shown at n, to lie astride the fronts of the back rails a a, and allow the arms to fold compactly onto the outer sides of the back rails a, a, while the seat-frame d is folded closely onto the inner sides of said back-rails, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

What I claim is- In a folding chair, the combination with the seat-frame formed with a central opening, the rear legs pivoted to the rear portion of the seat-frame, the front legs pivoted to the rear legs, and a transverse tie-bar attached to the tops of the front legs and extending under the seat-frame, of a rod disposed iongitudiof said opening and maintaining the tie-bar nally within the opening in the seat-frame in parallelism with the pivots of the legs as and fastened to said frame, a staple attached set forth.

to the aforesaid tie-bar and hanging said bar WILLIAM H. THOMAS. [L. S.] 5 on the aforesaid rod, and stops projecting Witnesses:

from the tie-bar and engaging the front edge J. J. LAASS,

0f the seat-opening adjacent to the side edges 1 A. P. HARRIGAN. i; 

